Get our latest staff recommendations, award news and digital catalog links right to your inbox.
A Happier Life
Table of Contents
About The Book
With “her signature warmth and Southern charm” (E! Online), the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer of Songbirds and the Peachtree Bluff series presents a tender and touching novel about a young woman who discovers the family she has always longed for when she spends a life-changing summer in North Carolina.
Present Day: Keaton Smith is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort, North Carolina, on the market—the home that Keaton didn’t know existed until now—she jumps at the chance to head south. But the moment she steps foot inside the abandoned house, she’s confronted with secrets about grandparents who died in a car accident before she was born. And as she gets to know her charming next-door neighbor, his precocious ten-year-old son, and a flock of endearingly feisty town busybodies, she soon finds she has more questions than answers.
1976: After meeting her adoring husband Townsend, Rebecca “Becks” Saint James abandoned the life she knew and never looked back. Forty years later, she’s made a name for herself as the best hostess North Carolina has ever seen. Her annual summer suppers have become the stuff of legend, and locals and out-of-towners alike clamor for an invitation to her stunning historic home. But she’s struggling behind the façade. Becks strives to make the lives of those around her as easy as possible, but this summer she is facing a dilemma that even she can’t solve. And as the end of the season looms, she is brought to a decision she never wanted to make.
As both Keaton and Becks face new challenges and chapters, they are connected through time by the house on Sunset Lane, which has protected the secrets, hopes, and dreams of the women in their family for generations. For fans of Summer of ‘69 and The Notebook, A Happier Life explores the power of family, the bonds of friendship, and the boundless nature of love.
Present Day: Keaton Smith is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort, North Carolina, on the market—the home that Keaton didn’t know existed until now—she jumps at the chance to head south. But the moment she steps foot inside the abandoned house, she’s confronted with secrets about grandparents who died in a car accident before she was born. And as she gets to know her charming next-door neighbor, his precocious ten-year-old son, and a flock of endearingly feisty town busybodies, she soon finds she has more questions than answers.
1976: After meeting her adoring husband Townsend, Rebecca “Becks” Saint James abandoned the life she knew and never looked back. Forty years later, she’s made a name for herself as the best hostess North Carolina has ever seen. Her annual summer suppers have become the stuff of legend, and locals and out-of-towners alike clamor for an invitation to her stunning historic home. But she’s struggling behind the façade. Becks strives to make the lives of those around her as easy as possible, but this summer she is facing a dilemma that even she can’t solve. And as the end of the season looms, she is brought to a decision she never wanted to make.
As both Keaton and Becks face new challenges and chapters, they are connected through time by the house on Sunset Lane, which has protected the secrets, hopes, and dreams of the women in their family for generations. For fans of Summer of ‘69 and The Notebook, A Happier Life explores the power of family, the bonds of friendship, and the boundless nature of love.
About The Author
Photograph by Bud Johnson
Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, and The Peachtree Bluff series, which is in development for television with NBC. A Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism, her writing has appeared in numerous online and print publications, including Southern Living, Traditional Home, USA TODAY, Domino, and O. Henry. Kristy is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. Her books have received numerous accolades, including Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Beach Reads, Parade’s Big Fiction Reads, and Entertainment Weekly’s Spring Reading Picks. Kristy is the cocreator and cohost of the weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction. She blogs with her mom, Beth Woodson, on Design Chic, and loves connecting with fans on KristyWoodsonHarvey.com. She lives on the North Carolina coast with her husband and son where she is (always!) working on her next novel.
Product Details
- Publisher: Gallery Books (June 25, 2024)
- Length: 384 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668012192
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
If you love small towns, Southern charm, romance, family sagas, or murder mysteries, this novel needs to be in your beach bag. I loved it.
– —Emily Giffin, New York Times bestselling author
With A Happier Life, Kristy Woodson Harvey takes us to a mysterious long-abandoned house on Sunset Lane, where family secrets whisper forth from the woodwork, summoning readers to partake of a dazzling buffet of old heartaches, friendship, family lore and yes, a second chance at love. A Happier Life is that wistful, sparkling summer song whose notes will long linger in reader's memories.
– —Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of Summers at the Saint and The Homewreckers
Kristy Woodson Harvey has the voice of a best friend; a storyteller of the finest sort.
– —Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author
A beautiful, big-hearted book that had me furiously flipping pages to solve the mystery! Full of Southern charm and characters that will stay with you. A magnificent read!
– —Jennifer Probst, New York Times bestselling author
Everything about this novel reminded me of drinking sweet tea on a warm summer’s night while relaxing on a wide Southern porch, a ceiling fan slowly turning the air overhead. I smiled as I read the first page and breathed a contented sigh as I read the last—because A HAPPIER LIFE made me happier, too. Don’t miss it!
– —Brenda Novak, New York Times bestselling author of Tourist Season
Kristy Woodson Harvey takes a family of broken people and puts them back together with her signature humor and wisdom. Beautifully written and deeply emotional, A HAPPIER LIFE is a family mystery wrapped in a love story and is also a gracious nod to tradition and the people who came before us. This is the novel to read this year.
– —Annabel Monaghan, bestselling author of Same Time Next Summer
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): A Happier Life Hardcover 9781668012192
- Author Photo (jpg): Kristy Woodson Harvey Photograph by Bud Johnson(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit
